Tishman Speyer Raises $190 Million Fund From Chinese Investors

May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Tishman Speyer Properties LP raised
1.2 billion yuan ($190 million) from Chinese investors for a
real estate fund that will develop a two-tower, mixed-use
project in Suzhou as the local economy expands.

The 1.23 million-square-foot (114,300-square-meter)
development will include luxury residences, offices and retail
space, the New York-based property developer and investor said
in a statement today. The fund was raised solely from Chinese
investors and is the first of its kind from a foreign developer,
Tishman Speyer said.

“The establishment of this fund is a watershed event in
the evolution of China’s capital markets,” Jerry Speyer and Rob
Speyer, the company’s co-chief executive officers, said in the
statement.

Economic growth in the Suzhou region and local
infrastructure improvements have made it a good time for the
project, the Speyers said. China’s economy expanded by 8.1
percent in the first three months of 2012 from a year earlier.

The development site is in Suzhou’s central business
district on the west bank of Golden Rooster Lake, according to
the statement. The property consists of two parcels that
straddle Suhua Road and will have direct access to a subway line
that began operating this week, Tishman said.

Hwabao Trust Co., based in Shanghai, is an investor in the
fund, and Noah Holdings Ltd. is the fund’s financial adviser,
according to the statement.